Ferries and Ping Pong
by MultipleCyrosis
Summary: [IchiRuki] Another flufffilled oneshot from me, from the days of pre soul society! Involves Ichigo and Rukia coming closer together because of a luxury cruise, a beautiful sunset, a romantic dinner and...a ping pong ball. [Warning: Fluff!]


**AN: **Hey all. This is just a random FLUFFY one shot that takes place in the Pre soul society timeline. The skeletal plot was originally made by my older sister, but she gave up after 600 or so words. Even so, credit goes to her for triggering my muse, which nowadays seems a very, very hard thing to do. Anyway, I should have put it in my drabble collection, but it's a bit long to be called a drabble, and besides, I haven't finished the current segment in that drabble collection, so I'll just post a new story. Hope you like it.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach

- - -

**Ferries and Ping Pong**

**- - -**

The ferry rocked gently as it slowly made its way upstream. The sky was an azure blue, and the water was crystal clear, so clear that Rukia could see her reflection in it, as she looked over the side of the boat.

"Look Ichigo!" she gestured excitedly at little fish darting in and out of the shadow of the ferry. Ichigo sighed, and leaned his elbows on the rail, obediently looking at what Rukia was making a big fuss about. "They're so small and quick! It's amazing that they grow to become so big!" He had just explained to her about how small they were when they first started out life in the big Karakura River, and then they and would grow to be someone's dinner. Yet she was here jabbering excitedly about _how _cute and small they were. He rolled his eyes. Why was he on this damn cruise anyway?

- - -

"…and the Best Artwork Award goes to…" The principal paused. "… Kurosaki Ichigo!"

There was a silence, as the student body waited in vain for Ichigo to climb the podium.

"I suppose Kurosaki Ichigo is absent today." The principal pushed up his glasses, and shuffled his papers. "We'll continue on to the Encouragement Award."

"This award goes to a student who has shown incredible improvement in the past term, and has been a pleasure to teach." He paused. "This award goes to Kuchiki Rukia!"

The door banged, and Rukia rushed in, her usually immaculate uniform slightly crushed, her hair slightly mussed. As she looked around for a seat, principal, somewhat nonplussed, repeated, "This award goes to Kuchiki Rukia!"

There was clapping, and a few wolf whistles as Rukia slowly made her way up to the platform with a bewildered look on her face. Encouragement award? What was that? She made a mental note to check with Ichigo as soon as she met him.

As she shook the headmaster's hand, still puzzled, he said "Congratulations, you have won a ferry cruise on the Karakura River, courtesy of Art Express!"

- - -

So, that was why he was on the stupid cruise – didn't Rukia know that she was allowed to _not _accept the ferry cruise? Most people didn't – the cruise was incredibly boring, but he couldn't just _leave _Rukia to go on the cruise by herself. There were people that would take advantage of her naivety, and he would _not _have that.

Thank goodness that he had won a ticket as well. Even if it was boring, the trip was still pretty expensive.

It had been a tiring day: they had fought a hollow at sunrise, and two on the way to school, which had meant that Ichigo was late. But it was Friday, and all he had to look forward to was the weekend. He put up with it, to say the least.

The cruise started in the early evening, and was supposed to finish at around 10:00 PM. What was there to do during that time? Feed the ducks who congregated at the edges of the river?

"Luckily this cruise includes dinner…" he mumbled under his breath. _I wonder when that will be._

He looked over at Rukia, whose eyes were still darting around excitedly. He rolled his eyes again, something that he had become accustomed to while staying with Rukia. Being with her made him realise that he took so much things for granted – but he really couldn't care less. But it did make him feel happy, but only a _bit_, he told himself, and only because of the amusement factor involved. Nothing more.

He checked his watch. The cruise had started at seven, and it was only seven-thirty. Dinner was served in an hour, and there was really nothing to do. One, the boat was rather small and only contained a couple of rooms, which he hadn't bothered to explore because _Rukia_, had decided that she would like to keep him there on the deck, simply _looking _at stupid fish.

Then again, the rooms in the ship were probably not interesting anyway. But he would have to check it out, before it got dark. Sunset was coming, and he didn't particularly want to be on deck _with _Rukia, at that time…it was too corny and typical. Besides, if any of his classmates heard of it – he could just imagine Rukia – "Oh yes, Kurosaki-kun was so nice as he stood by me on the deck and watched the _sun _set."

He shivered, even though the evening air was warm. That would really not be good for his image, he decided. The girls would be bawling their eyes out, blabbering on about how _cute _they were together – he and Rukia were _not _cute together. The guys, on the other hand would probably give him annoying slaps on the back, and asked him if he had done anything more than just _stand _on the deck with her, all the while sniggering out various vulgar jokes that would make his hair stand on end. And then that annoying idiot Ishida would turn around from sewing something, pushing his glasses up his nose, and remark calmly about the state of his virgin lips, or _something _along those lines.

He leant forward, looking straight ahead. Even if she didn't say anything, rumours were probably spreading right now. Actually, rumours had already been spread about the two of them – but now that they had this stupid cruise (none of the guys actually thought he was going to go) it was bound to spark up some interest in the local Karakura gossip columns.

After a few minutes of more silence, he grew restless, and turned around, intent on exploring the ferry's interior.

When Rukia did not follow him he felt a twinge of disappointment, but reminded himself that he was going because he didn't want to stay on the deck with her as sunset was fast approaching.

The first room he entered into was the games room. The place was deserted, as the only other people on the boat were a couple of old fogeys and some young lovers – who were incidentally on the deck on the moment probably smooching and what not.

That was the reason he hadn't been reluctant to leave Rukia – there were no real threats to her – and that was all that mattered.

He picked up a ping pong paddle, and started hitting the ball against the wall, since there was no one else to be his opponent. He was so engrossed with the ferocious opposition that the wall gave him that he didn't realise the presence of his significant other enter the room. He stood there, pinging and ponging for all he was worth, and it wasn't until Rukia spoke that he realised that she had been there all along.

"Ichigo," she casually stated, leaning against the door.

He stopped to look at her, and the ball went flying past him. Looks like the wall had won for now. But it wasn't his fault really – she looked very small and pretty standing there in one of Yuzu's pale yellow dresses. He made a note to buy her some new clothes when he got the chance – it would do her good, not to mention, make her look good – _not _that he wanted her to look good or anything, but just for the sake of assimilating perfectly into the Karakura society.

"What?" he answered her, trying to sound cross. "You made me lose."

"Lose?" she asked him, cocking her head sideways.

"Yeah. My table-tennis game," he replied, walking to the other side of the room to retrieve the ball.

"Oh." Rukia took a few steps forward. "I don't believe I was briefed on the aspects of table-tennis in Soul Society," she said carefully, though Ichigo knew full well what she was saying. She had no idea what it was.

"It's just a game," he shrugged. "No big deal," he said, as he continued his vicious rally against the wall.

"Do humans always play such silly games?" she asked, trying to hide the curiosity in her voice.

Ichigo caught the ping-pong ball in his left hand, as he turned to look at her blankly. What she had _really _said was, 'Can you teach me about this game?' It surprised him that he knew her well enough to know what she was really thinking.

"Do you want me to teach you?" he asked uncaringly. Anyway, something good _could _come out of it. She could provide some entertainment for him, and after all, the wall didn't seem to be backing down anytime soon.

He saw her eyes light up, and he turned away, embarrassed. It wasn't like he was doing her some big favour, or anything.

"Stand there," he said, pointing to the other side of the table without looking at her face.

When he looked next, she was standing innocently at the other side of the table.

"Here, catch," he said, and tossed her his ping-pong paddle. She caught it deftly, and twisted it around in her hands before she was gripping it in a way that she thought Ichigo had been previously holding.

Adopting a voice similar to that of a preschool teacher he said, "Ok, now, when I bounce this ball towards you, all you have to do is hit it back to me, okay?"

It should be pretty straight forward, he thought, as he tossed the ball gently towards her.

Rukia successfully gave the ball an honest-to-God whack, similar to that of a sword strike of a zanpaktou.

Straight forward indeed, was his last thought as the ball hit him squarely between the eyes.

A few minutes later, and profuse apologising by Rukia (though it was accompanied by a few giggles), Ichigo felt the need to _explain _the game in a bit more detail.

Even though he had told her to _gently _tap the ball back, he still readied himself before he threw the ball. Small and slender though she was, she could really accelerate the velocity of a ping pong ball, he thought as he ducked under the fast moving projectile.

"No, no," he said frowning, after a few more unsuccessful attempts by Rukia. "Dammit, why can't you hit it gently," he said moving from his position behind his side of the table.

"It's not my fault," she protested angrily, shaking her paddle at him. "Every time I swing, I always think it's my zanpaktou, and I just _hit _it," she finished lamely.

Ichigo just shook his head, and walked behind her.

Rukia suppressed a gasp as he took her hands in his from his position behind her. Suddenly she felt very hot around the neck, and she was acutely aware of where their bodies were touching.

"I-Ichigo…" she said, not knowing why her usually accurate speech had been changed into that of a stutterer, as soon as she recognised the proximity between them.

"Shutup," she heard him growl, as he fiddled lightly with her hand. What was he doing?

"Ok, this is how you hold it," he said, finishing adjusting her grip. Placing the ball in her hand, he placed his much larger one behind it, and closed it into a fist, forcing her to grasp the ball. "You throw it up…" He was glad she couldn't see him, because he was blushing fiercely. His body had just moved on its own. He wondered momentarily if she was the same colour as him. If her voice was any indication…

"S-so…I throw the ball up, and then hit it," Rukia said after he had finished his explanation, inwardly cursing because of her stuttering. Why the hell had he come so damn close?

"Yeah. Ready?"

Rukia gulped. If his hands weren't holding hers, she would be shaking. Why did this human boy have this effect on her?

She felt her hand lift slightly, and she took the cue to throw the ball up in the air. With his hand guiding hers, he adjusted her power to gently hit the ball. She watched in amazement as the ball _pocked _quietly over to the other side of the net, then went through a series of small bounces until it hit the ground.

"I…I did it," she said, forgetting that it was actually Ichigo who had helped her do it. But he was unperturbed.

"Yeah, good on you," he said sarcastically. "Maybe this time you won't hit my face."

She turned around angrily. "I didn't _mean _to!" she said, her lapse of irritation making her forget that Ichigo was now holding her in his arms.

"It still hurt though!" he fought back. Unfortunately for Ichigo, he was _very _well aware that she was standing very close to him, and that somehow had impeded his usual argumentative power.

"You're just weak," she retorted, poking her finger at his chest. She suddenly became quiet, as she just realised how close they really were.

She looked up at him, locking his gaze with hers. He was coming closer, she thought, her heart beat starting to race. Why was this happening? Why was her body responding in ways she did not understand? She also had started to lean towards him, rising to her tiptoes.

_**GOOD EVENING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.**_

They immediately jumped apart, suddenly aware of what was _really _going on.

_**THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING. **_

Ichigo and Rukia both looked up to the ceiling – it provided _somewhere _to look, rather than at each other.

_**DINNER IS NOW SERVED AT THE MAIN HALL. PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY THERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.**_

- - -

Dinner was a rather quiet affair – they didn't even fight. They didn't speak to each other, except only for necessities, such as 'pass the salt'. They ate around each other's gaze, each to their own thoughts.

_What the hell was I doing, _Ichigo thought as he munched angrily on a piece of bread. He was about to kiss the damn girl, for crying out loud. What in the world had possessed him to do that?

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, as he was a straight-forward kind of guy – he didn't want all these troublesome thoughts plaguing his mind. Placing his eating utensils down, he stood up. Without any explanation, he walked out of the dining hall, his hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face.

Rukia watched him go, somewhat puzzled. Was he angry at her? But for what?

Ichigo found himself staring at the dark blue water. The moon's light seemed to be magnified tonight, and he could see his reflection quite clearly.

"Ichigo?"

He already knew who it was, without turning around.

"Rukia," he said, acknowledging her presence with a nod. She came to stand next to him, imitating his pose of leaning on the rail.

"What's wrong?" she asked, sounding genuinely worried.

Ichigo opened his mouth to snap back, but something told him that she was just merely trying to understand.

"Nothing's wrong," he lied, "I just needed some air, that's all," he continued gruffly.

"Oh."

An awkward silence floated over the two of them, and Ichigo noticed that there was no one else on deck except for them – the rest were still probably eating dinner. His stomach growled in protest at the thought of the unfinished dinner. His stomach had been coping with a lot lately, he thought, staring blankly at the water. It could probably win the Olympic gymnastic competition, with all the back flips, turns and front flips it did lately, whenever a certain raven haired shinigami appeared.

"Well…"

He jerked his head up when she started to speak.

"If there's nothing wrong, can you tell me what you were about to do when were playing…umm…" she looked up, scrunching up her forehead in thought.

"Table tennis," he finished helpfully.

"Yeah, table tennis."

There was no way he was going to tell her that he was about to kiss her – and anyway, didn't she know that already? It would have been pretty damn obvious, with his face as red as anything, he thought. But then again, it was Rukia, and the girl was so thick that it was a mystery as to why she stayed so thin. She probably thought he had a fever or something, and was leaning down to head-butt her, or something ridiculous like that.

He made an irritated noise, and looked away, stepping back, but his arms still outstretched, hanging onto the rails. Rukia wouldn't get the real answer out of him, even if he had to die. He _would _die, if he told her the real answer to her question.

"Well?" he heard her say. She sounded rather close by, he thought, as he turned his head to meet Rukia's stern gaze from in front of him.

Wait – from in front of him? "Rukia, what the hell are you doing!" he exclaimed, trying to jump back, but failing. Rukia had ducked under his arms and had reappeared in front of him, holding the front of his shirt. Apparently she had prepared for him trying to escape.

"I think we were standing like this," she said casually, as she looked up, her eyes searching his.

Ichigo closed his eyes. Did she _really _not know what was going on? Well, maybe in Soul Society or wherever she came from, they didn't have kisses – or didn't do kisses, or _something _along those lines.

Or maybe she was just teasing him, getting him to do something stupid so she could laugh at him. But her eyes were much too serious for that. She was leaning closer towards him, her lips parted slightly. Ichigo gulped. This girl…no, woman, had such a paralysing effect on him. As she leant closer, he suddenly ducked down and closed the gap between them, kissing her once.

Then twice.

The third time her hands were in his hair, and he was pushing her back against the rail. He took a deep breath as he stepped back, eyes searching for some sort of reaction from Rukia. Her face was downcast, as if thinking deeply.

"What…"

He held his breath.

"…is that called?"

He let out his breath quite rapidly.

"What?" he asked incredulously. A normal person wouldn't be able to kiss like that, then ask innocently what _it _was actually called. But he had learnt that Kuchiki Rukia was not your average person.

"What we just did, idiot," she said, sounding like her old self again.

"It was…a kiss," he said with some difficulty. He looked around quickly, checking if anyone else had emerged from the dining hall. No one had.

"It was…nice," she said simply, giving him a small smile, leaving him dumbstruck. She hadn't actually known what it was, and in truth, she had thought it a bit weird at first. But when it all came down to it…it was just…nice. There wasn't really any other word to describe it.

She grabbed hold of his hand, and pulled him towards the doors that lead back to the inside.

"Wait, where…are we going?" he said, his speaking skills still not recovered fully. That, and he was rather disappointed that she hadn't elaborated or anything like that. It was 'nice', so didn't she want to do it again?

As if reading his mind, she turned around and gave him a smug grin.

"If you beat me in that table-tennis game, I'll let you do that _kiss _thing tome again."

"What? Who said I wanted to kiss you, idiot!"

She turned around again, and dragged him back to the games room.

"You'll never beat me anyway," he grumbled, as she took her place at the other side of the table.

- - -

"You lied!"

"No. I _forgot_. There is a difference, Ichigo," replied Rukia, unable to stop the wide grin from spreading across her face.

Ichigo turned from the table, chucking his ping pong paddle behind him, a scowl plastered across his face. _Twenty-one to seven. _In other words, creamed. By Kuchiki Rukia, none the less.

How was he supposed to know that the girls' physical education class were doing table tennis as a sport?

- - -

**AN: **Ah, finished. Hope you liked it. If any part of this story made your lips quirk upwards slightly, or made you smile (mentally or physically), give me a review. And if it didn't, well, just review anyway, and tell me why you didn't like it. Cya!


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